Morning Freebies

Good morning! A few great freebies - more to come!

(Art for "No Breather in the World But Thee" in fiction and audio fiction)





Fiction
• At Nightmare Magazine: "No Breather in the World But Thee" by Jeff VanderMeer. Horror.
     "The cook didn’t like that the eyes of the dead fish shifted to stare at him as he cut their heads off. The cook’s assistant, who was also his lover, didn’t like that he woke to find just a sack of bloody bones on the bed beside him. 'It’s starting again,' he gasped, just moments before a huge, black, birdlike creature carried him off, screaming."

Ebooks
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Blood Harvest by Michael Weinberger. Fantasy.
• Cat's Paw by L.A. Taylor. Fantasy, Mystery.
• Vampire Takeover by Jez Strider. Vampire Dystopia.
• Black Diamond by Jennifer Loiske. YA Fantasy.
• Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis. YA Science Fiction.
• Limbo's Child by Jonah Hewitt. YA Fantasy.
• All the Paths of Shadow by Frank Tuttle. Fantasy.
• Firecracker by Charles R. Verhey. Science Fiction Fantasy. 
• Love of Shadows by Zoe Brooks. Fantasy.
• Baby by J.K. Accinni. Science Fiction.
• NorthWest by JH Glaze. SciFi Horror.
• Telepaths and Traitors by K.J. Blaine. Science Fiction Space Opera.

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Man and the River" by Therese Pieczynski. 
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Police Interrogation" by Townsend Wright. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Nightmare Magazine: "No Breather in the World But Thee" by Jeff VanderMeer. Horror.
      Described above.

• At PodCastle: "Virtue’s Ghosts" by Amanda M. Olson. Fantasy.
      "For two weeks after she moved into our house, no one could convince me that Aunt Victoria was not a ghost. With soundless steps, she drifted from room to room in a dress the same blue-gray color as the pendant around her neck'

• At StarShipSofa: "The Golden Age of Story" by Robert Reed.
     "Each vignette is a separate episode outlining the spread of a designer drug, the effects of which include elevated reasoning and memory, high creativity, and pathological confabulation." - Primary Sources.


Other Genres

• Audio at CrimeWAV: "Mahogany & Monogamy" by Jed Ayres.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Real Mom" by Von Rupert

Tuesday Free Fiction

More goodies.










@Daily Science Fiction: "Like Origami in Water" by Damien Walters Grintalis.

Johnny is angry again. I hate this part, but I won't try to stop him. I would feel the same way, too. "It's not fair," he yells, spit flying out of the corners of his mouth. "And it's not right. Why can't they figure out what this is? Why can't they fix it?"

@Fantasy Magazine: "The Invisibles" by Charles de Lint.

"Here’s what you do, Jerry says. You get one of those little pipe tobacco tins and you put stuff in it. Important stuff. A fingernail. Some hair. A scab. Some dirt from a special place."

@GigaNotoSaurus: "Sauerkraut Station" by Ferrett Steinmetz.

“The sauerkraut is what makes us special,” Lizzie explained as she opened up the plastic door to show Themba the hydroponic units. She scooped a pale green head of cabbage from the moist sand and placed it gently into Themba’s cupped hands.

@Lightspeed: "How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars (Marsmen Trad.)" by Lisa Nohealani Morton.

"As her breath hissed out it thickened and spread and wrapped around the planet. Before long it was pushing everything down; my mother’s breath became the atmosphere of Mars."

@Ray Gun Revival: "Catastrophe Baker and the Fall of the House of Usher" by Mike Resnick.

"Every now and then I hear some highbrow talking about the fall of the House of Usher as if it was some fiction story. Well, take it from me, Catastrophe Baker, it’s all perfectly true. I ought to know, because I was there when it fell"

@Strange Horizons: "Particle Theory" by Edward Bryant.

"If you're right," she said, "it could be the most fantastic event a scientist could observe and record." Her eyes refocused and met mine. "Or it might be the most frightening; a final horror."

@Wily Writers: "I’m My Own Kryptonite" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt.

"Kenley Williams’s alter ego is killing him. Literally. Is a painful life in the hospital worth everything he goes through as a superhero? Does he have to sacrifice love along with everything else? Excerpt: His eyes close. He can sense them, their lives a shout in the Flow of all things. Fear, anger, greed."

Now Posted: Abyss & Apex - Issue 40: 4th Quarter 2011
"The Old Factory Award" by Grey Freeman.

"The Old Factory stands forgotten upon a small and narrow road folded between a street filled with shops, cafes and bakeries and another beaded with pubs, clubs and wine bars."

"Keeping Tabs" by Kenneth Schneyer.

"I was so excited when I could finally buy a Tab. They cost so much, you know, but I saved up for maybe six months. I waitressed at Antonio’s in the North End, and let me tell you, it’s murder on the feet. Those trays are heavy, too, and Nico screams at everybody the whole shift, not to mention the way you smell after six hours. But the customers tip really well, and I was able to save up enough money, even after paying rent and stuff."

"Silvergrass Mirror" by Amanda M. Hayes.

"Dozens of stalks of stonespear thrust up through the swamp waters, some of them as big around as Eisle’s fist; she hadn’t seen such a patch in years. She had a hatchet. She had a water-bag to keep the pith moist. She loved the harvest of a rare component as much as its discovery, and the money as much as either."

"Random Fire" by Van Aaron Hughes.

"I never kept a journal. I made day-to-day notes on my research, but a file for personal thoughts always struck me as vanity. Today, however, a little vanity is appropriate. Someday, people will wonder what went through my head at this moment."

"Hungry" by Ryan J. Southworth

"The royal carriage clattered and shook. It seemed to bounce from one rock to the next, intent on ignoring the road in favor of its largest obstacles, and with every jolt the old woman’s bones rattled in time to the creaking wood and glass. She found herself wondering –several times–whether the driver was going blind. Or whether perhaps he was taking vengeance for some accidental wrong she’d done him."

Now Posted: Crossed Genres - Issue 35 – Dark Comedy
"Jezebel's Blouse" by Timothy T. Murphy.

"Sixteen hundred and thirty-two years ago, the assembled gods of the world abandoned humanity, leaving us to our self-determined fates, the bastards. I can’t say as I blame them, really."

"Jason's Shoes" by Richard Bist.

"At first it was kinda funny, ya’ know? He’d come in and pull his shoes off and after a few minutes this smell would just overwhelm you."

"The Execution of Zacharius Grubb" by Bethan Claire Price.

"As it turned out, being hanged was only the second most unpleasant thing to happen to me on the worst day of my arduous existence."

"Chasing Persephone" by Natalie Stachowski.

She threw a horseshoe. The latest projectile almost sent him backwards over the railing as he evaded it. His eyes flashed a bright yellow color as he regained his footing. “Give it up! Just invite me in already!”

"Worse Than a Devil" ..by Sarina Dorie

"When my best friend, Mandy, offered to set me up with a hot, handsome man, I had no idea he would also have horns and hooves."

Now Posted: Expanded Horizons - Issue 31 (Sep 2011)
"Kuda Kepang" by Fadzlishah Johanabas.

"Malik watched his bride as she cheered at the Kuda Kepang troupe performing in honor of their wedding. Nine men astride legless horse puppets woven from nipah palm leaves danced in choreographed silat martial art movements, with his brother Hassan leading them on a black-painted stallion. A middle-aged man, the Kuda Kepang master, stood beside four seated men playing gongs and percussions and snapped his leather whip."

"Blue Dahlia" by Larisa Walk.

"After six years of therapy, Melissa’s voice still calls me from the lake. My shrink’s three hundred and twelve cream-colored business cards sit on my desk. One card for each appointment that failed to stop me from hearing my lover’s whispers in the patter of rain on dead leaves, in the footsteps on a flagstone path, in terror-soaked dreams. I can’t tell what she is saying, but I know the voice is hers."

"Unfit to Eat" by Tyus Barnwell.

"When I was still a juvenile an old man made the long climb from the village to our mountainside home. A boy walked at his side to aid him. I remember studying the elder carefully as he stood in the arched entry to our cavern casting a stocky shadow. From what I could see past my mother’s broad body, the man looked filthy and tired, leaning on the boy and his walking stick as though he had a boulder strapped to his back."

Now Posted: Redstone Science Fiction #18 - November 2011
"Passive Resistance" by David Tallerman.

"Alec turned just in time to see Ennis begin to fall, to feel wetness spray across his face. Ennis, his bodyguard, his friend, wavered for an instant – then collapsed backward, emptying a flower of red over the steps behind him."

"On the Sabbath Day Be Ye Cleansed" by Amanda C. Davis.

"We knelt, arching our faces to the temple like flowers strain toward the sun. We remembered the week, the loves gained and friends won. Those lost. Our conflicts. Our sins. We remembered."

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #18" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"You can lose yourself in certain types of spaces, at a certain time. I discover this every day as I pass further into the East. In becoming a shadow, in needing to hide, to avoid, to make myself invisible, I have begun to experience the strange sensation of no longer existing, of floating, even though most days I am an enormous komodo dragon."

@Kat and Mouse: "Into The Woods - Part Six" by Abner Senires.

"Outside, standing two meters away, the aerodyne looked even worse than before. The RPG had taken out the rear left thrusterpod and part of the rear fuselage. Burned and twisted metal still smoked and what paint scheme there was on the main body had been scraped off, as if by some monster talons, exposing bare metal beneath."

Audio
@Dunesteef: "Silk For Moisture, Mud For Shine" by Amanda C. Davis.

"A Silkie Wrap. All the beautiful people are getting them. After you’ve had yours, you’ll feel like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Hopefully, you can afford the price."

@Fantasy Magazine: "The Invisibles" by Charles de Lint, read by by Stefan Rudnicki.

@Librivox: "The World Set Free" by H. G. Wells, read by Jules Hawryluk and William Tomcho.

Radioactive decay is a major theme in the novel The World Set Free, published in 1914. Wells explores what might happen if the rate of decay could be sped up. The book may have encouraged scientists to explore theories of nuclear chain reaction.

@Lightspeed: "How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars (Marsmen Trad.)" by Lisa Nohealani Morton, read by Claire Bloom.

@PodCastle: "Still Small Voice" by Ben Burgis, read by David Rees-Thomas.

A few patrons looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing, then turned back to their business when they saw no one there. Under his cloak, Jack luxuriated in the artificial cool of the café.

@Wily Writers: "I’m My Own Kryptonite" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt.

Serial Audio
@Beam Me Up: "The Things - Part 2" by Peter Watts.

"the creature comes to realize the horror of just the type of beings he is dealing with. Horrifying creations that violently react when faced with anything that changes. Creatures that never change, born and die with the same shape and can not imagine anything different."

@Beware the Hairy Mango: "The Careerist’s Guide to the Sea, Part 1" by Matthew Sanborn Smith.

Friday Freebies

More cool freebies from great sites.










@AE: "Dinner Guests" by Ivan Dorin.

"Six thousand feet above sea level in Banff National Park two wardens paused at the side of a backcountry trail. Their exhalations steamed in the January air as they stared at a tree ornamented by a two-pound Atlantic lobster in a resealable plastic bag."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Sea Charm" by Ann Chatham.

"It's not my rule," said the sorceress, crossly. "It's a rule of magic, child. If you want a thing, you must be prepared to offer something you value as much in exchange. If you take my advice, you'll forget about this nonsense and speak to the young man on your own." She leaned on her hoe and watched the girl over her garden fence.

@Tor.com: "Apologue" by James Morrow.

"The instant they heard the news, the three of them knew they had to do something, and so, joints complaining, ligaments protesting, they limped out of the retirement home, went down to the river, swam across, and climbed onto the wounded island."

@Tor.com: "The Dead" by Michael Swanwick.

"Three boy zombies in matching red jackets bussed our table, bringing water, lighting candles, brushing away the crumbs between courses. Their eyes were dark, attentive, lifeless; their hands and faces so white as to be faintly luminous in the hushed light."

@Tor.com: "Wishbones" by Cherie Priest.

"At the Andersonville camp there is a great, stinking dread. The Confederates don’t have enough food of their own, so they sure as hell aren’t feeding their prisoners of war; and the prisoners who aren’t wasting away are dying of diseases faster than they can be replaced."

@Tor.com: "Trading Hearts at the Half Kaffe Café" by Charles de Lint.

"We all buy so heavily into how we hope things will turn out, how society and our friends say it should be, that by the time we actually have a date, we’re locked into those particular hopes and expectations and miss everything that could be."

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #24" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"Millions of alt-Earths died out every year. One experienced mass extinctions due to cat litter and plastics and on top of that nuclear holocaust. Another remained verdant but personless when warlike aliens that resembled large terrestrial sharks declared the human race guilty of marine genocide."

@Author's Site: "Deluge (Part 88)" by Brian Keene.

"Leviathan trudged toward them. Sarah could only imagine the skyscraper-sized legs plodding along beneath the surface. Each step sent huge waves surging outward from the beast. The thing shook its massive, misshapen head, flapping its tentacles, and its roar echoed across the ocean, drowning out all other sound."

Audio Fiction
@About SF: "The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass" by Fred Pohl, read by Geoffrey A. Landis. [Via SF Signal]

"The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass" was first published in Galaxy Magazine in 1962, and has since been included in numerous collections of Mr. Pohl’s work.

@Classic Tales Podcast: "In Letters of Fire" by Gaston Leroux, read by B.J. Harrison.

"Rumors run up and down the mountainside of the strange and dangerous man who made a deal with the devil. In the hollow of a terrible storm, four hunters meet a melancholy madman who offers them shelter. But has this man really lost his mind, or is he laboring under the burden of a terrible curse?"

@Escape Pod: "Site Fourteen" by Laura Anne Gilman, read by Mat Weller.

"Robinachec nodded confirmation as though the pilot could see him. ”Roger that. Bringing you in.” Palming the flat-topped lever, I watched as he moved it gently back towards him, pulling the bullet-shaped transport into the shed, an external framework of metal beams just large enough to hold two minisubs, or one shuttle."

@StarShipSofa: "Her Acres of Pastoral Playground" by Mike Allen.

"a desperate father does everything he can (including the most terrible Black Magic) to stave off the inevitable weight of Cthulhu’s conquest. The story features a non-linear progression of events that explores an existentialist angle, while plunging the reader into some of the most ghastly imagery this side of Lovecraft himself." - Blackgate.com

Part 1

Part 1 of ?

illustration from "The Talisman’s Trinket" by P.C. Hodgell.





Fiction
@AEG: "Two Quiet Days" by Rusty Priske.

Tanari reached for his stick, propped up next to his simple cot, and used it to pull himself to his feet. He tried to ignore the screaming in his knees and back, but each day they got a little louder and harder to push into the background. Even his hands, which still remembered the feeling of wrapping around a bow and drawing the string back, were swollen at the knuckles and he had to make an effort to hold the walking stick.

@Baen Books: "The Talisman’s Trinket" by P.C. Hodgell.

"It’s the end of apprenticeship for Patch, young thief in the making and Kencyrath series protagonist Jame’s protégé, as she defends herself and her family on a night of murderous guild riots and tectonic shifts in political power within a city built on magic. A riveting stand-alone fantasy filled with walking gods and thief magic—all set in P.C. Hodgell's wondrous world of the Kencyrath series"

@Fantasy Magazine: "Unnatural Disaster" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

"Horizontal rain, darkness, and a nearly empty beach. Jaclyn Tadero trudged through the thick wet sand, listening to the ocean’s waves crash beside her. The Coast Guard helicopter flew overhead."

@Phillipine Genre Stories: "Freeborn in the City of Fallacies" by Andrew Drilon.

Valle Paradox: where shamed academics live on in feudal chaos, debating their flawed theories ad naseum, casting misshapen temporalgorithms into the cubic ether and warping actuality with every barbed, non-canonical entry into the world’s spatialgebra.

@Lightspeed: "Against Eternity" by David Farland.

"The wan gray of polluted skies will weigh on your soul, and you will recall bluer days, and wish for your childhood, when the grass seemed taller and would rub your inner thighs as you rambled through the fields."

@Ray Gun Revival: "The Final Meeting of the Truth Society" by Matthew Acheson.

"When I left my parent’s house that night, I remember looking out across the water and seeing that the setting sun had turned the sky a brilliant shade of crimson. It was a short walk down a dirt road to the Fairlee post office, and when I arrived there was a tall man with dark hair and wide shoulders waiting for me. His name was Stephen Robinson, and he was my oldest and dearest of friends."

Now Posted Innsmouth Magazine #8.
"Graffito Flow" by W. H. Pugmire.

"Silver moonshine filtered through the mist of dusk. Lifting her eyes to heaven, a blind woman sang to darkness. Autumn wind brushed against her lank hair and moaned softly at chapped red ears. She listened to the sound and whispered an accompaniment as the breeze embraced her like a friend who kisses throat with chilly fondness. Night and wind and invisible moon were her ancient friends; they would not mock or mar as others had…"

"And Out Came Words of Fire" by Paul Jessup.

"At first, I thought they were burns – like some form of branding. Bruises along her skin, raised under the flesh. She was barely married – I could see her hair was tied in the traditional newlywed knots, which swung in a pendulum arc around her head as she stumbled along the stone steps to the Temple of Saxis"

"We Are All Ghosts" by Peter Darbyshire.

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with the silence of the grave. I don’t bother testing the walls of the tomb you’ve buried me in. I know there’s no way out. After all, you built it to contain not only me, but what’s inside me. I cannot escape. We cannot escape.

"We Can Watch the White Doves Go" by T.J. McIntyre.

The view from the top of the cliff revealed miles of unobstructed Alabama countryside. The river below stretched on and on, a glowing yellow snake lit by the waning sun. It slithered between rolling hills and square plots of farmland. Smitty imagined that if he looked hard enough, he might be able to see where the river met the Gulf of Mexico four hundred miles to the south, but it was only a matter of time…

"The Second Sphinx" by Rebecca Stefoff.

"A month before I was to leave for Egypt with Napoleon’s army, the Comte d’Erlette asked me to call on him. “My son, you do not have to go,” my mother said to me three times, but I was more than willing. It was past time for a reckoning with the Comte. I would demand an accounting and swear to repay all that he had spent on us."

"Curvature of the Witch House" by Wendy N. Wagner.

"The crows! The caw, gaw, gaaaw all day and into the twilight. As if they know they can stop my work. Lousy devils, snapping their beaks every time I step outside to chase them away. Shuffling on their feet of three claws."

Now Posted: Lorelei Signal - Oct - Dec '11 Issue
"The Comfort of Wood" by J.C. Hart.

A woman is forced into a noble marriage because of her gift of magic. But she finds that gift manipulated in ways she never wanted. Will she ever be able to escape the prison she finds herself in and once again find The Comfort of Wood.

"Firstborn" by Karen L. Kobylarz.

A Queen of Egypt in hiding from her husband. A mother still grieving the loss of a
son. A woman accused of desecrating the Tombs of Eternity. In saving the son of
another mother, another son will be lost.

"Haunted" by Finale Doshi-Velez.

The victim of an accident, Amanda finds herself haunting her friend and neighbor
and the person who was responsible for her death. The pain she causes her friend,
is almost as bad as the pain it is causing her. All she wants is to find her rest and
let her friend live in peace - but she doesn't know how.

"Her Ladyship, the Dragon" by Edgar Mason.

A young woman is cursed by her stepmother to become a dragon. Even after the
curse is broken - she still finds she has still become a dragon.

"The Prize" by V. Anne Arden.

A gladiator learns that sometimes the most important prize isn't just surviving.

"The Queen is Not Amused" by Ken Goldman,

Fizzbain is the favorite jester of the Queen and more than any he knows the cost
of her displeasure. When a young danced displeases the queen and is thrown into
the dungeon he looks for a way to save her. Unfortunately, a trick he learned from
a wizard backfires and he finds himself as the Queen's favorite in another way. Will
he be able to save the dancer and his own head from the Queen's displeasure
when she finds out how he tricked her.

"The Weaver of Linlea" by Lauren Bailey Fawcett.

A young storyteller hides a secret about her past - not only to protect herself, but
others she has never ever met. Her secret is threatened when the Prince becomes
ill and his fiancé believes the storyteller can save him. Will she reveal her past to
save a man she loves but can never have, or will protecting the nameless others be
more important.

Now Posted: Lovecraft eZine - Issue #7
"Sky Full of Fire" by Corinna Sara Bechko.

"I think it started the day the house fell down. I came home and there it lay, nothing but jagged crossbeams inclosing sad triangles of empty space. The detritus of a lifetime. A lot of broken things that meant nothing. That meant everything"

"The Lord of Endings" by John R. Fultz.

"I found the old hermit sitting like a stone in the desert. His skin was grey as granite, pitted by the timeless winds. His ramshackle hut stood between two boulders deep into the great, dry plain where the pale-skinned invaders never go"

"Loaners" by Aaron Polson.

"Mariana lay with her head off the edge of the bed, hair dangling nearly to the floor, and imagined how much cocaine she could buy with twenty-thousand dollars. "

"The Prophecy of Zarah" by Jenne Kaivo.

"My translation team has sought to convey the most exact meaning, while still retaining some of the poetic flow of the original."

"The Stranger From Out of Town" by John Prescott.

"The house was paid for, but it was devoid of life, and the thought of staying in that empty house sent chills through his body. The house was a two-story contemporary, well-built and worth a lot of money. It faced the west on Carpey Lake and had the traditional pier, two-car garage, and a wrap-around porch."

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #16" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"For a millisecond I froze. In another millisecond I had morphed back into a full-sized komodo spasming and thrashing as if my attacker were riding my back."

@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #22" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"Gabriel came down like a colossus in flames—smashing through the roof of the library where my avatar sat reading love poems, his wings ablaze and the look upon his face hideous."

Audio
@Lightspeed: "Against Eternity" by David Farland, read by Stephan Rudnicki.

Wednesday Free Fiction, Pratt, Liu, and More

Some very good free fiction this time. I won't say that this is only part one because whenever I say that something comes up to prevent part two.

Illustration for "The Secret Beach" by Tim Pratt.







@AE: "Last Words" by Chester Burton Brown.

"These aren’t fancy robots, mind you — not your Zorannic types with delusions of sentience or anything. These are regular machines: butlers and security guards and masseurs, nannies and infantry, forklifts and hookers. They are the image of life, and we’re there to witness their simulation of death."

@Aurora Wolf: "The Hunt" by Julius Vagdal.

"I watch the bead of sweat as it rolls down the face of the lean merchant sitting across the table. It tracks its way over the edge of his jaw, and down his neck only to disappear under the collar of his stained tunic."

@Aurora Wolf: "Captain Bogey of Canine Command: The Ball of Yarn Incident" By Rory Steves.

"Lieutenant Bogey wondered at that; there couldn’t possibly be any fleas aboard Station Frisbee. Bogey paid close attention as the admiral continued."

@Aurora Wolf: "Kitchen Life for the Greater Good" by Opal Edgar.

"Young Lord Freeland was repugnant and even he knew it. Why he bothered us with toothpicks was beyond everyone."

@Aurora Wolf: "If the Shoe Fits" by John C. Tremblay.

"Had she willingly departed from Oldport to ride with the Lord whose disposition was as sour as his stench, she would’ve swallowed her pride and sent for help."

@Anotherealm: "The White Woman" by Robert D. Marion .

"Earon had little time to react before the solar flare exploded beyond the horizon of the heat shield. Doctors called the result “ghosting”. The glare of stellar material is bright enough to cause instant, permanent blindness. The optic nerves die so quickly that the victim feels no pain."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Totemkill" by by Sean Vivier.

"Grant drove. Mel had the back seat and Hart took shotgun. Mel snorted. "Sign looks like a coat-of-arms."
"What's that?" Grant asked.
"That road sign. Stag Rampant, Sable on Or."
Grant had a smile in his voice, if rebuke in his words. "I'm pretty sure that means deer crossing."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Regret Incorporated" by Andy and RJ Astruc.

"Again, nothing to worry about. He tried to stay cool but he could feel his palms sweating around the pen. It was no big deal though. Just a form. Marcus told himself to stop thinking about it, that thinking was only going to make him freak out more"

@Daily Science Fiction: "The Last Seed" by Ken Liu.

"When Linda was in kindergarten, telescopes and probes produced the first fuzzy images of distant planets orbiting faraway stars."

@Fantasy Magazine: "The Secret Beach" by Tim Pratt.

"Though I’m the kind of person who uses the self-checkout line at grocery stores just to avoid the necessity of small conversation with a human cashier, I blurted out, 'Hey, where were you guys swimming?'"

@GigaNotoSaurus: "Jackstraw Magic" by Eljay Daly.

"I don’t need a name, a past, a history, to draw a crowd. I’m nobody, and they watch to see me fail–but I don’t, and I laugh from the joy of it. I flash the bottles from hand to hand in the hot dawn, flash and catch, throw."

@LightSpeed: "Her Husband’s Hands" by Adam-Troy Castro.

"They opened the box and showed her Bob’s hands, resting side by side on a white pillow. The left one lay palm-down, the right one palm-up. The one that was palm-up twitched and waggled fingers at Rebecca when it saw her."

@Philippine Genre Stories: "Escape" by Dean Francis Alfar.

"The last foe fell to the blows of the Whirling Lobster’s good claw, emitting a tart smell as it melted in the dappled forest floor."

@Ray Gun Revival: "Eternal Virus" by Steve Stanton.

"Her house had been locked all day. Of that, Niko could be certain. She had standard webcam surveillance, touch-sensitive alarms, failsafe measures. She lived in suburbia, a single girl safely ensconced in the anonymity of urban sprawl, her illegal nest impregnable to all but the most violent means of forced entry, her vigilance meticulous. There was absolutely no way anyone could have infiltrated the perimeter without her knowledge."

@Short Story Me: "A Duel To The Undeath" by John C. Wilson.

"Gilroy limped backwards, uncertain of what had just happened. Cullen’s blade had found the exposed flesh just above the chausses of his right leg, but his enemy did not press his advantage."

@Strange Horizons: "Destiny, With a Blackberry Sauce" by David J. Schwartz.

"Another thing that happened was that I caught this fish, this gorgeous fat salmon, and it said that it would grant me a boon if I let it go. I said I was pretty hungry so I'd pass."

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #21" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"Any organism can die, even a mountain. For a person it might be a spore in the eye that burrows into the brain, or a paper cut that creates an opening for more serious infection. For a mountain it might be love unreturned"

@Kat and Mouse: "Into The Woods - Part Two" by Abner Senires.

"Another photo, this one of a lantern-jawed man with dark eyes half-hidden by a grease-stained khaki ball cap and sporting a day's worth of stubble. The caption on the photo identified him as Sam Cutter, our hired pilot."

@More Red Ink: "Exo-Skeleton Town - part two, part three, and part four" by Jeffrey Ford.

"I would have rather sat on the bowl backwards for a year than take that space flight. It seemed endless, but I spent my time reading books about ancient movies and dreaming what I would do with all my gold after I scored my load."

@Ray Gun Revival: "Thieves’ Honor Episode 16: Game Change" by Keanan Brand.

"Finney clomped back and forth across the wheelhouse, one hand at the radio on her belt, the other hand resting on the butt of a pistol, half of a mismatched pair she’d bartered off an old merchant in the Horatio market."

Audio
@Fantasy Magazine: "The Secret Beach" by Tim Pratt, read by Christian Rummel.
@LightSpeed: "Her Husband’s Hands" by Adam-Troy Castro, read by Kathe Mazur.

More Free Fiction

Some more good free fiction.













@Lightspeed: "The Nearest Thing" by Genevieve Valentine. Science Fiction.

"We know you love your family. We know you worry about leaving them behind. And we know you’ve asked for more information about us, which means you’re thinking about giving your family the greatest gift of all: You."

@Baen: "The Brute Force Approach" by Michael Z. Williamson. Science Fiction.

"Stadter nodded, checked the grid and synched the blip to the ship's computer. Three seconds later the computer hit the grapple release. Auburn slipped off the station's waist, using the centrifugal force as delta V. He brought engines up smoothly, and pushed them from free fall to 2 G standard. The couch gripped him through the acceleration."

@Author's Site: "The Case of The Vanishing Boy" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Detective story set at a science fiction convention.


Now Posted: Absent Willow Review Aug. 2011

• "Alleyeyes" by Kent Rosenberger. Science Fiction.
• "Love Notes for the Sun" by Jarod K. Anderson. Science Fiction.
• "The Boathouse" by Stephen McQuiggan. Horror.
• "Tin Man" by Dale Howard. Horror.
• "A Birthday To Remember" by Pete McArdle. Fantasy.
• "Heaven Box" by Erich William Bergmeier. Science Fiction.
• "Shut-In" by William C Rasmussen. Horror.
• "Dead Man’s Dump" by David W. Landrum. Horror.
• "Tourist Attraction" by Lawrence Buentello. Fantasy.
• "Three Poems" by Michael C. Keith. Horror.
• "The Infinity Processor" by Evan Rourke. Science Fiction.

Now Posted: Edge of Propinquity Aug. 2011.

• "Acolyte" by Kaolin Fire.
• "Destinies" by Peter M. Ball.
• "Fasces" by Ivan Ewert.
• "The Wind Like a Knife's Edge" by Alina Pete.
• "Temple of Ill-Repute" by Elizabeth Aronoff.

Serial Fiction
@More Red Ink:"Texture of Other Ways" by Mark W. Tiedemann (Part 1 of 3), first published in the September 1999 issue of Science Fiction Age [via SF Signal].

@Author's Site:

• "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (mountain)–Entry #17" by Jeff VanderMeer.
• "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #11" by Jeff VanderMeer.
• "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (mountain)–Entry #18" by Jeff VanderMeer.

Audio Fiction
@Lightspeed: "The Nearest Thing" by Genevieve Valentine., read by Arte Johnson. Science Fiction.

Tuesday Free Fiction

Made it. Didn't know if I was going to be able to post after all. A few good ones here today.











@Lightspeed: "Just Another Perfect Day" by John Varley. (1989) Science Fiction.

"I know how you’re feeling. You wake up alone in a strange room, you get up, you look around, you soon discover that both doors are locked from the outside. It’s enough to unsettle anybody."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Trails" by James Bloomer.

"Clarke stood on the dunes, watching the party coalesce on the beach. Over the horizon, and the grey swell of the ocean, lay Africa. Beyond their borders. Outside. Lands of suffering."

@Pixel of Ink [Kindle]:

• "Personal Demons" by Gregory Lamberson. Horror.
• "The Strange Case of Finley Jayne" by Kady Cross. Fantasy. YA.
• "The Abandoned Edge of Avalon" by Eden Tyler. Fantasy.
• "The Amulet" by Alison Pensy.

@Smashwords:

• "Alter Egos" by Andrew Marx. Superhero.
• "The Seventh Sister (book 2 of the Parched)" by Z.L Arkadie. Paranormal Romance.

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #9" by Jeff VanderMeer. SF.
@Strange Horizons: "The Rugged Track (part 2 of 2)" by Liz Argall.
@White Wolf: "Silent Knife (part 16)" by David Nurenberg. Horror.







@PodCastle: "The Duke of Vertumn’s Fingerling" by Elizabeth Carroll, read by Tina Connolly.

After I opened my eyes they dressed me in silk. A bone-white gown slipped over my head and I raised my arms for it like a child. With my hair undone, I must have looked like a bride. I was nothing of the kind.

@LibriVox: "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells, read by Mark Nelson.

"H.G. Wells’ classic science fiction-fantasy story, in which a scientist known only as “The Time Traveller” tells the tale of his journey to the year 802,701 A.D. and beyond, where he witnesses the end of human civilization as we know it, as well as the beginning of the end of the world. "

@Lightspeed: "Just Another Perfect Day" by John Varley, read by Stefan Rudnicki.

T. G. I. Free Friday Fiction

Some quite cool stuff today including some good flash fiction, podcasts and fan audio, ongoing serials, Weekly episodes of Escape Pod and Pseudopod (one of the best reasons to look forward to fridays), some very good fiction - including a pair from two of my many favorite eZines, and today's highlighted story is "The Lamp at the Turning" by E. Lily Yu. Published at the well-respected literary magazine The Kenyon Review, this is an interesting short story by a future big-name writer.

Today's illustration is from the fan audio "Mad Max: Tomorrow's Road"







@The Kenyon Review: "The Lamp at the Turning" by E. Lily Yu. Speculative Fiction.

"For ten years the streetlamp on the corner of Cooyong and Boolee kept vigil with the other lamps along the road. They were surrogate moons for an age when the moon itself was too distant and dim to guide travelers in the night, and they performed their duties faithfully and with pride in their high purpose."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Still Life" by A.C. Wise.
@Ray Gun Revival: "Elias, Smith and Jones" by Mark English. Science Fiction.
@Macmillan Books: "Heart of the Sea" by Christine Warren. Paranormal Romance. [Via Free eBooks Daily]
@Smashwords: "Dragon Town" by Tom Lichtenberg. Science Fiction. Suspence. [Via Free eBooks Daily]
@Smashwords: "M" by Kody Boye. Science Fiction.
@Smashwords: "Grave Ties" by James Bailey. Horror.

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck–Entry #15" by Jeff VanderMeer.
@Author's Site: "Paradigm Shift #2" by Misa Buckley. Science Fiction.







@Escapepod: "Flash Extravaganza"

"London Iron" by William R. Halliar (narrator Andrew Richardson)
"Wheels of Blue Stilton" by Nicholas J. Carter (narrator Christian Brady)
"Light and Lies" by Gideon Fostick (narrator- Mur Lafferty)

@Pseudopod: "The Line" by Grady J. Gratt, read by Mark E. Phair. Horror.
@LibriVox: Twilight Land by Howard Pyle, read by many readers. YA. Fantasy. Short Stories (text 1894).

Serial Audio
@Classic Tales Podcast: "The Mark of Zorro Part 3 of 9" by Johnston McCulley, read by B.J. Harrison. Adventure.

Fan Audio
@BrokenSea Audio: "Mad Max: Tomorrow's Road" by By Paul Mannering, full cast. Science Fiction.
@Pendant Productions: Issue 6 of "Green Arrow: Shooting Star."
@Pendant Productions:Issue 66 of "Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscira"

Non-Fiction Podcasts
Cammy’s Comic-Con Corner – Geeky Talky – Episode 79 - Thursday at Comic-Con 2011
Comic Book Page "Comic-Con 2011 Podcast Panel"

@Daily Science Fiction: "Heart of Gold" by James Valvis.
@Eschatology: "News of the End of the World" by Anthony Cuthbertson. Horror.
@Flash Fiction Friday. "F3, Cycle 40" 23 flash fiction stories. Some genre, some not.
@Flash Pulp: "Coffin: The Appearance" by J.R.D. Skinner, MP3 read by Opopanax. Pulp.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Shadows" by Neil Leckman. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "The Fire Baby" by Michael Albani. Horror.
@365 tomorrows: "Oversight Governance" by Martin Sumner. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "Last Wishes of Customer 593" by K. J. Russell. Science Fiction.
@Weirdyear: "Aaron Got Drunk and Stole the Moon" by Joshua Young. Weird.

Monday Freebies

Some good freebies for this hot* Monday (*at least here in the St. Louis area). There's both quality and quantity.

Today's illustration is from the highlighted story "The Wolves of Brooklyn" just below.








@Fantasy Magazine: "The Wolves of Brooklyn" by Catherynne M. Valente.

"It was snowing when the wolves first came, loping down Flatbush Ave., lithe and fast, panting clouds, their paws landing with a soft, heavy sound like bombs falling somewhere far away."

@AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review: "The Infinite Onion" by David Steffen.
@Philippine Genre Stories: "Malvar" by Paolo Chikiamco. Speculative Fiction.
@L5R: "Love & Madness" by Nancy Sauer. Fantasy.
@L5R: "The Hinge of Destiny" by Rusty Priske & Shawn Carman. Fantasy.
@Short Story Me: "Goldar the Unwieldy" by Samuel Mae, Fantasy.
@Pixel of Ink: Astra: Synchronicity by Sharon Rosen. Science Fiction, Technothriller. [non-kindle formats at Smashwords]

Now Posted: Absent Willow Review (July 2011).

• "A Tree Grows In Hell" by Michael Owens. Fantasy.
• "The Birdman" by Ally Malinenko. Horror.
• "The Left Eye of God" by David Misialowski. Fantasy.
• "Beautiful Things" by Gianna Cappuccia. Fantasy.
• "The Bark Is Worse Than The Bite" by Foinah Jameson. Horror.
• "Real Vampires Don’t Get Shit-faced" by Joshua Young. Horror.
• "In the Library" by Dawn Napier. Horror.
• "Tidal Shift" by Derek Ivan Webster. Horror.
• "The Killing Breath" by Chris Castle. Horror.
• "Me and My Magic 8 Ball" by Selah Aran. Sci-Fi.

Now Posted: The Edge of Propinquity (July 2011). Dark Speculative Fiction.

• "Stranger Dreams" by Kaolin Fire.
• "Deals with the Devil" by Peter M. Ball.
• "Abductions and Reflections" by Ivan Ewert.
• "Falling Leaves and Failing Hopes" by Alina Pete.
• "Jim Towne Hollow and the Skinwitch" by Jennifer Adam.

Serial
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #8" by Jeff VanderMeer. Science Fiction.
@More Red Ink: "Guerrilla Mural of a Siren's Song (Part 3 of 3)" by Ernest Hogan.


Audio Fiction
@19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Ghost of a Chance" by Julie Hoverson.
@Fantasy Magazine: "The Wolves of Brooklyn" by Catherynne M. Valente, read by Gabrielle de Cuir.

Serial Audio
@Author's Site: "The Starter Episode #23" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction.
@Author's Site: "Chapter Fourteen (The End of the Beginning)" by Shaun Duke.
@Beam Me Up: "#14 of Dark Inspectre" by Jason Kahn and "Paid pt 2" by Deanna Knippling, read by Paul Cole. Science Fiction.
@Cthulhu: "The Black Stone (part 2 of 2)" by Robert E. Howard. Horror. Weird.









@Daily Science Fiction: "Persistence" by Kurt Newton.
@Eschatology: "In a Distant Jungle" by George Wilhite. Horror.
@Flash Pulp: "Lair, Part 1 of 1" by J.R.D. Skinner (also audio version read by Opopanax)
@Flashes in the Dark: "Piecework" by JR Hume. Horror.
@Quantum Muse: "The Metamorphosed" by Roi Czechvala. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "To Andromeda and Beyond?" by Patricia Stewart. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "TX-24" by Adam Sprague. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "War of the Grand Alliance" by Michael F. da Silva. Science Fiction.







@Comic Book Catacombs: "Nyoka "The Sinister Jungle Myth" Adventure. 1955.
@Femmes Fantastique: "Barbarella 2.1" Sci-Fi.
@The Horros of It All: "Lure of the Sea Hag" Horror. 1952.
@Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: Classic Bill Everett Comics. Horror / Sci-Fi.
@Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: "Ibis Goes Batty" Fantasy.
@Secret Sanctum of Captain Video: Space Ghost "Zorak's Revenge" Sci-Fi.

Free Fantasy, SF, and Horror Fiction.

Another good selection of free quality fantasy, Science Fiction, and horror fiction.

Today's illustration is for "The Old Equations" directly below.








@Lightspeed: "The Old Equations" by Jake Kerr. Science Fiction.

"I miss you already. But you know that. What you don’t know is just how proud I am of you. You were born for this, and no one could possibly be able to handle such a demanding job as well as you."

@Strange Horizons: "The Peacock" by Ted Infinity and Nabil Hijazi. Speculative Fiction.

"No HA HA not at all I am just making a joke. Please ignore my last two extremely suspicious metaphors. No need to contact authorities. No need to send your bank account information."

@Author's Site: "June Sixteenth at Anna’s" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Science Fiction. First published in Asimov’s SF Magazine, April, 2003.

"He’d thrown out her treatment bottles, taken the Kleenex off the nightstand, put the old-fashioned hardcover of Gulliver’s Travels that she would now never finish on their collectibles bookshelf, but he couldn’t get rid of her scent—faintly musky, slightly apricot, and always, no matter how sick she got, making him think of youth."

@L5R: "Endgame" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.

"The final confrontation between the magistrate Seppun Tashime and his quarry, the engimatic Gray Woman!"

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #7" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"A day has passed…I had not thought much about my namesake, the Mountain That Remained Behind…until now. Now I think about Mormeck Mountain constantly, wondering what he would do in my stead"

Flash Fiction
@Strange Horizons: [poem] "The Mesozoic Tour Guide" by Ken Liu.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Upgrade" by Allison Starkweather.
@365 tomorrows: "Artifact" by M.J. Hall. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "Star" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Ron Slade Lives" by C.D. Carter. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Gargoyle" by Eric Petersen. Horror.
@Eschatology: "A One, A Two…. " by Kaolin Fire. Horror.
@Eschatology: "Solemn Bird" by Corinna Beckho. Horror.
@Quantum Muse: "Too Many Bites" by Jeromy Henry. Horror.

@PodCastle "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu, read by Rajan Khanna. Fantasy.

"Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A little paper tiger stood on the table, the size of two fists placed together. The skin of the tiger was the pattern on the wrapping paper, white background with red candy canes and green Christmas trees."

@Lightspeed: "The Old Equations" by Jake Kerr. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Heather Scott, Gabrielle de Cuir, and Ted Scott. Science Fiction. Described above in Fiction.


Serial Audio
@MoPO: "The Shadows of Calcutta (Part 1)" written and narrated by Phil Rossi. Steampunk.

"Agent Robert Smith, on return from a mission in Nepal, is diverted to India where he is charged to find a missing agent. Alex Tanner had been investigating a series of thefts and murders holding the Ministry’s attention, and now it falls on Agent Smith to find his missing comrade."

@Flash Pulp: "The Murder Plague: Buggy Parts 1 though 3" by J.R.D. Skinner, read by Opopanax. Horror.

"The girl was screaming around her clenched fangs, but she refused to let go, and most of her attacker’s clothes were burned away before I could grab him by the scruff and yank him from the inferno."

@Drama Pod: Journey to the Centre of the Earth Part Sixteen by Jules Verne.

The classic SF/Adventure novel continues.